


In Waves

by ouvertes



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-09-30 09:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17221163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ouvertes/pseuds/ouvertes
Summary: “You have something to say, Winwin?” The snappy Yuta had been replaced with the teasing one as a smile played on his lips.Winwin straightened up, hands neatly clasped behind him. “You should… slow down.”“Funny, I’ve been thinking the opposite.”





	In Waves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Consorte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Consorte/gifts).



 

 

Winwin distinctly remembered the first time they spoke. A laptop bag slung over one shoulder, a plaid button-down over a white tee in dire need of ironing, and perpetually sleepy, vacant eyes that barely hid the fatigue of the student life. Not unlike most of the customers that greeted him.

By this point, Winwin was skilled in the art of making the adequate amount of conversation that the students were relieved to receive. With an all-too-artificial smile plastered on his face, he nodded at the next customer.

“Hello–”

“Is Taeil not working right now? I thought this was his shift.”

Winwin’s mouth had hovered open at the shock of being abruptly cut off, and widened further at this customer’s complete lack of care for displaying his obvious bias in baristas. He snapped his mouth shut and took a sharp breath. “Afraid not. How can I help you?”

A scowl grew on the customer’s face. Taking social cues did not seem to be his strong suit. “Well. I don’t have enough student points on my card and Taeil promised he’d lend me his for coffee.” His tone was almost accusatory, as if Winwin should’ve known about this already. He looked expectantly at Winwin, as if the latter was about to whip out Taeil’s student card from his own pocket.

At this point, Winwin had opted to switch his fake smile for a fashionably soulless stare to match his growing headache. “As you can see, Taeil isn’t here. Now if you aren’t going to buy anything today, please step aside so I can tend to the other customers.”

The customer looked over his shoulder to see the zero customers in line behind him. He turned back to Winwin, his scowl now replaced with a tired smile. “Look. I know café workers have unlimited points for coffee, so if you can please give me my dose of caffeine before my next class, I’ll owe you. Please.” His plea was punctuated by a sigh that was all too devastating for the modest favor that was being asked.

Winwin gave in, on the account that it was the tail-end of the season of giving or whatever. “Fine.”

A smile erupted on the other’s face and he looked like he was near tears. A tad dramatic, this one was. “Thank you. You’ve given me life today.”

Grimacing, Winwin turned to fill up a cup with black coffee.

“Oh my god, is that a large? How can I ever repay you –”

“That will be $2.50.” Winwin secured a lid over the cup and slid it over the counter. “And I trust Taeil will have your number so we’ll be in contact.”

The customer waved a hand at Winwin’s words. “I don’t want Taeil playing the carrier pigeon between us. Here, give me your number.” He waved his phone at the other.

Winwin stared at the phone for a split second before shaking his head. “You know what, the coffee’s on me. Happy start of the semester. Oh…” He swore he didn’t mean to cause whatever pain he had inflicted on the customer just then. “I’m sorry…”

“Yuta.”

Winwin paused before replying. “I’m Winwin. I’m sorry, I’m just not comfortable giving my number to just about anyone.”

“And I’m not comfortable receiving handouts when I’m privileged to pay back. Only… not right now.” Yuta furrowed his brows and spoke with resolve. “I’ll be in touch, Winwin.”

 

 

 

It wasn’t that Winwin was allergic to people, contrary to popular belief. He had a few close friends on speed dial, and then some. He approached relationships to how he approached his budgeting – Was it affordable, based on his own energy when it comes to social situations? Was it necessary –will it absolutely get in the way of things if he didn’t open up to this person? And will it enhance the quality of both his life and theirs?

For someone like Yuta who failed to meet even the first criteria, Winwin shouldn’t have bothered to waste another second thinking about him. He was a barista who was barely making it alive to the end of his shifts with the amount of self-composure needed for him to work in customer service. Consequently, Winwin had made it a point to treat his customers with the physical and emotional distance provided by the thin slab of marble separating them. Winwin was only following protocol. Those on the other side of the counter are exclusively the café’s customers. Nothing more.

His thoughts were interrupted by someone on this side of the counter.

“I know you’re still beating yourself up for last week, but I promise Yuta didn’t take it to heart,” Taeil spoke as if he read Winwin’s mind, a comforting arm over his shoulder. “He gets cranky without his morning coffee.” Taeil continued, softly, “He’s a nice guy, tho. He’s probably just as sorry about his behavior as you are.”

“Hm.” Winwin absentmindedly rinsed out the creamer pitchers, unconvinced. Despite Taeil’s attempt to assuage his concerns, he replayed the look of embarrassment on Yuta’s face when Winwin refused to give him his number.  It was as if Yuta felt like he had committed a sin, as if he was suddenly shown his place. Winwin hadn’t meant to come off as smug, and he hoped that the coffee helped erase the memory of their first encounter.

Winwin felt Taeil’s arm slide off him as he heard a third presence in the café.

“A bit late, aren’t you? We’ve closed.”

“I have an account to close.”

At the sound of the familiar voice, Winwin turned around.

He was wearing something akin to the bargain-rate college version of an evening outfit. A fitted, washed out pair of jeans was matched with a faux leather jacket, with the inner shirt still as wrinkly as the one he wore the other day. He looked as tired as ever, but the weight that had drooped his shoulders down was gone, traded for an air of freedom and unrestrained thrills. When he grinned at Winwin, whiskers were etched on the corners of his eyes, warm and inviting and Winwin didn’t realize he had been holding his breath.

“Told ya I’ll pay you back.” And with that, Yuta laid three crisp one dollar bills on the counter in front of him. “Fresh from the ATM. Gotta love payday.”

“Going out tonight?” Taeil leaned against the counter with his elbows propped up. “Johnny’s party or are you gonna attempt to crash another frat?”

“Johnny’s.  Too tired for drama tonight. You should come with, once you’re done up here,” Yuta turned from Taeil to Winwin, about to say something, but held his tongue.

Winwin approached the counter, feeling Yuta’s eyes on him. He picked up the bills on the counter. “The coffee was only $2.50.”

Yuta shrugged. “Consider the rest as interest. So, wanna go out?”

Winwin whipped up in alarm, stunned. Yuta sported a mischievous smile as he raised his eyebrows at Winwin. He repeated his question while moving eye contact towards the other barista. “What do you say, Taeil?”

Taeil eased up beside Winwin and nudged him with an elbow. “Care to go out tonight with us, Winwin?”

“Ah,” Winwin cleared his throat. “I’m not into parties.”

“Not into parties,” Yuta repeated slowly. There was no malice in his tone, but rather curiosity and a dash of that misplaced embarrassment again as he tried to understand.

Winwin nodded. “Yeah,” He forced out a chuckle to alleviate any awkwardness he may have caused with his response. “I’m more of a small gatherings person.”

“Of course,” Taeil nodded. “But just so you know, Johnny’s apartment isn’t too far from here, if we want to ditch early.”

Winwin shook his head. “It’s alright. You two go on and have fun. I can close up here.”

“Nonsense, I’ve been leaving you alone enough times this week,” Taeil patted Winwin’s back before picking up a washcloth and turned to Yuta. “You go on first, I’ll catch up in a bit.”

“I’ll see you around, then, small-gatherings-person,” Yuta nodded at Winwin as he stepped back.

“See you!” Winwin animatedly waved, hoping his cheeriness made no mistake in relaying his feelings behind the rejection this time. Seeing the response, Yuta laughed out loud with mirth, his bright, blinding smile leaving Winwin in a daze.

 

 

 

For all the fairy tale idolization a coffee shop was worth, the stressful atmosphere of one on a college campus kind of put a damper on things.

Winwin was a romantic at heart, if not in action (to the majority, at least). Jumping on the job opportunity at an opening near the engineering library, Winwin had assumed he had hit jackpot when he received the café’s acceptance email. A steady part-time income, a hardly demanding job description, _and_ working in an environment as the potential inspiration for his songs? He’d be a fool to say no to that.

What he failed to take into consideration was his weakness for absorbing the stress of those nearby as his own. Days around midterm exams were particularly taxing, wringing Winwin out like a used sponge by the café’s closing. He was grateful, at least, to his coworker who would step in during the morning rush on those days to relieve him of the cashier position.

“I have five minutes to class and no coffee in my system. This is the end of me.”

“How many credits are you taking this semester? Twenty-one?” Taeil frowned. “You’re overloading yourself.” He handed Winwin the customer’s order slip. “Are you sure you don’t want to drop a course?”

“Drop a co- _Drop?_ A _course?_ ” Yuta looked incredulously. “You don’t think I can handle–” his retort was cut short when he locked eyes with Winwin, who was looking in alarm between him and Taeil. Yuta groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Just give me my red eye, man.”

Not that it was any of Winwin’s concern, but he was fairly sure Yuta may have a serious addiction. He looked on curiously as Yuta grabbed the steaming drink before Winwin had even set it down on the counter. Yuta took a long sip, his anger melting almost instantly as the espresso worked its magic.

A second too late, Winwin realized he was staring.

“You have something to say, Winwin?” The snappy Yuta had been replaced with the teasing one as a smile played on his lips.

Winwin straightened up, hands neatly clasped behind him. “You should… slow down.”

“Funny, I’ve been thinking the opposite.”

“What’s so funny?” Winwin frowned, confused. Maybe Yuta should heed Taeil’s advice and drop a course, if only to preserve his retention rate. “You’re going to burn yourself.”

Taking that as a challenge, to Winwin’s continued concern of the other’s capacity for basic human logic and common sense, Yuta removed the drink’s lid and took another long sip while keeping unwavering eye contact at the barista. Once done, he wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve and smacked his lips.

“What’s life without a little bit of heat?”

Now that was _too_ cheesy, even for Winwin. He faked a gag. And Yuta laughed again in that unabashedly beautiful Yuta way where his entire face lit up in happiness and Winwin had to turn around to hide that very heat creeping up on his face.

 

 

 

Working as a student barista had few perks and Winwin made sure to use all of them to their fullest extent. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, not in the traditional sense as Taeil would say. So he aimed to make his drinks with enough of the other ingredients to wash out the actual flavor of coffee. His go-to drink? Caramel macchiato, with two shots of caramel and extra whip. Not that he had a sugar tooth. Sugar just made him happy. Simple biology, he’d point out to Taeil.

“You sure you got enough whip, there?” A voice sang out as he was making his concoction of the day.

Knowing the drill by now, Winwin composed himself before looking up. “Good afternoon, Yuta. How may I be of service today?” Being on a first-name basis didn’t give him a pass at dropping the formalities of a café worker.

“Oh what to do,” Yuta exclaimed sadly. “I can’t pay with my card points today, either.” He ended with a pout and it took all of Winwin’s self-control to maintain the polite customer care façade.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Winwin transformed his smile into a passable frown of concern. He was quite certain Yuta was pulling his leg at this point, but vouched to err on the safe side. Plus, he’d rather not bother with banter if that’s what’s in store in that timeline. “A large black coffee again?”

Yuta gaped. “That’s it? You’d just keep giving me free drinks without any pushback?”

“If you have points, you may pay with your card,” Winwin responded evenly. “Otherwise, I do have unlimited coffee points–”

“-That I’d pay you back for,” Yuta added.

Shrugging, Winwin continued. “I guess I trust you enough, so I’m offering to pay again.”

“What to do,” Yuta mused. “I’m going to have to break your trust now. I do have points on my card this time,” he spoke while brandishing out his card like a sword in exaggerated fashion. “Ta-da!”

Winwin stared at the card and sighed. If only people would speak to him straight, he would have to waste so little breath in these conversations. And so, he embraced this particular emotion to highlight just how much he disliked the guy in front of him. To Winwin, Yuta was nothing but a nuisance. His penchant for theatrical flair, his perpetually unironed shirts, his troubling addiction to bitter coffee, all compensated by the sweetest smiles Winwin had ever seen. Like the one he was sporting at that very moment. Winwin sighed again.  

“Alright. What would you like–”

“But what I want can’t be bought with points, I’m afraid.” Yuta grinned, waiting for the other to prod him on.

“Everything in this café can be bought with our card points.” Winwin responded, pursing his lips.

Yuta shook his head. “Not everything.”

Glancing around the counter and then to the menu on the wall (as if he hadn’t memorized everything already by heart), Winwin hunted for something he may have missed.

“Stop acting cute,” Yuta grumbled under his breath.

“Excuse me?” Winwin wasn’t sure he heard that right.

“Nothing. So what I’d like today… actually, forget it.” Yuta’s playful demeanor melted away with a flip of a switch, and in its place was doubt and worry etched into his bitten lips. He looked down at his phone. “Maybe another day.”

“Please come again,” Winwin blurted before he could catch himself. And Yuta’s face absolutely glowed.

 

 

 

To Winwin, love wasn’t an experience he fell into all at once.

It wasn’t a torrential downpour that had caught him by surprise, drenching him to his core and enveloping him, rudely and without warning. Not for someone like him, who made sure to triple-check the skies before leaving his sanctuary and if he absolutely _had_ to leave, then he wasn’t caught alone without an umbrella and his trusty rain boots.

No, to Winwin, love came in waves. It took its time, approaching him hesitantly at first, seafoam lapping at his feet upon greeting him. Then, with the soft kisses compelling him to stay, the turquoise waters began to build up around him. Each wave slowly eroded his borders, insisting that it could easily be the last if he so wished. That at any point, he could turn back around and walk towards dry ground. And soon enough, he was entirely underwater, with fire imbued in the very blood that coursed through his veins.

 

 

 

“If you don’t mind, there actually _is_ a line forming behind you now.”

Yuta looked at the customer behind him, who glanced up from his phone. “No worries, I can wait.”

“Thanks, Jaehyun.” Yuta turned back to Winwin. “Now, where were we?”

“I’ve told you multiple times, you need your student card to buy anything from this café,” Winwin massaged his temples, wondering how he could possibly be clearer. This was the fifth time the two were having the same damn conversation. He swore Yuta had some kind of past-life vengeance over him and was out to find Winwin’s cracking point. The only outcome resulting from their previous encounters was Winwin’s astonishing realization at his own patience when it came to the subject of Yuta. He offered a kind smile at the other. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but house rules.”

“But _I’ve_ been telling _you_ , I don’t want anything that can be bought with a student card.” Yuta picked up the receipt pen, twirling it between his fingers. “You have the rules wrong.”

Winwin sighed. “You know what? Let me bring out the official café guidelines, if you don’t believe me.”

“Oh, I believe you about the café. What I don’t believe, is about what’s _in_ the café,” Yuta leaned forward, causing Winwin to step back. “And you pretending not to understand what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“I’m not pretending,” Winwin pressed. How this conversation turned onto its head, he had no idea.

“You really don’t know? What I want in this café that can’t be bought?”

“My sanity?”

Yuta blinked, then erupted into laughter. “That’s one way of putting it.”

Winwin was ready to call it quits. To hell with polite customer service. “Do you want my job? Is that it? Not that you can handle it, seeing as you’ll probably get a caffeine overdose on day one. What? What do you want?”

Yuta froze for a good three seconds before scrunching his nose and propping an elbow on the counter, chin in hand. “This one’s got a bite.”

Winwin looked over Yuta’s shoulder at the next customer, who had now put away his phone and was following the conversation with interest. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to cut him in line?”

“I’m perfectly sure.”

“Alright,” Yuta stood up straight. “Since you claim you don’t know, I’ll just ask you, no more beating around the bush.”

“Thank you,” Winwin responded sincerely.

Yuta cleared his throat and attempted to smooth out the creases on his shirt. “Winwin. Would you be interested in a small gathering?”

“Mmm, it depends?” Winwin scratched his head. “What are the details?”

“Well, the location is here. Except not here-here, where time constraints seem to be an issue. But over there,” Yuta motioned at the tables in the café. “The activity is chilling. You know, talking and drinking coffee, or a latte with a ridiculous amount of whipped cream, up to you.”

Winwin threw a glare. “Is that it? You wanted to ask if you can throw a party in this café?”

“A small gathering,” Yuta corrected. “In this case, a gathering of two. You and me.”

Winwin gaped. “You had to delay this… for how long? Just to play out your game? All that buildup, for– for weeks– You really are, such a dummy–”

“ _I_ am a dummy?” Yuta pointed at himself in shock. “I’ve _literally_ asked you out five times now.”

“Lies. To think of all the time I’ve wasted...”

“Don’t waste any more time, then.”

“Fine. What do you want, a double shot?”

“Nah. Your existence has already replaced my caffeine intake for the day.”

“Disgusting. Be here at 3pm, tomorrow. And iron your shirt, for once.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ever yuwin and I hope it's to my prompter's liking! Happy holidays to everyone!


End file.
